And let's just take a moment to gradually ease our way,
Noticing this transition from kind of regular waking life into mindfulness practice.
There's no rush as we step into.
Step into this.
It's almost like you're,
You know,
Stepping into the lake or the ocean,
You know,
You don't always just jump right in.
You slowly kind of,
Your feet are,
I'm used to cold water up here in Canada,
But your feet are cold and then you get used to it and then you get a little bit deeper in your knees.
So similarly,
Let's take our time to slowly slip into this practice.
So feel free to close your eyes if you'd like or keep them open and let's get into it.
Just letting it all settle.
Want to take a few deep breaths,
You're more than welcome to do so.
Some people really like scanning through the body as they prepare for a practice like this.
So feel free to notice if there's any tension in your head.
The muscles around your eyes,
Your cheeks,
Your jaw,
Shoulders.
Letting go of the belly,
Letting your hands rest in the lap.
Finding a comfortable place for your feet.
And now I'll encourage you to reflect on the question.
For you personally,
Why are you here doing this?
What's the point?
The idea here is to notice the deeper motivation.
You might even ask a few why's.
So whatever answer comes up when you ask,
Why am I doing this?
Ask why again and why again.
Keep asking why until you get to some sort of deeper value or deeper inspiration.
That seems to be leading you to show up for a meditation or sign in to a meditation like this,
To spend 15 minutes in this way.
See if you can get deep.
For example,
You might ask,
Why am I doing this?
And the answer that comes is,
Well,
I want to relax.
Well,
Then you might ask,
Well,
Why do I want to relax?
Well,
I want to relax because life's busy these days.
And why is that important?
I care about myself,
And I know that if I overdo it,
I'm going to burn out.
And why is that important?
Well,
If I burn out,
I won't be there for the people I care about.
You can see how that power of the question why can quickly take you from I want to relax to universal love and compassion for the people in your life and maybe even the people all around the world.
So keep asking why for a few more moments here.
Okay,
Now let's take whatever came up for you in that exercise and use it as fuel.
To maybe even readjust your posture to capture that full intention.
Of why you're here.
As we move into an awareness practice.
So I'm going to open it up for you to freely choose your focus area for this practice.
So you can pay attention to your sensations of breathing.
You may notice any sensations associated with breathing.
You might want to hone in on your nostril or the flow of air in your throat.
Or your chest or your belly,
Whatever works for you.
But if you prefer,
You can pay attention to sound.
You can notice.
Sounds in your environment coming and going.
Anything you want.
Can pay attention to the whole body.
You can even do a visual meditation.
If you want to look at the swirls behind your closed eyes or even open your eyes and gaze at a scene.
Take a few moments to make a clear decision about which technique you're going to do.
It's not often useful to flip-flop on this.
So make a decision and maybe even say to yourself,
I'm going to pay attention to sound for the next 10 minutes.
Or I'm going to be aware of my breath for the next 10 minutes.
Set a clear intention.
Of which focus area.
You're going to bring awareness to.
And once you've made that choice,
Gently place your attention there and notice.
What those sensations feel like in this moment.
No need to bring too much effort to this.
Kind of what I'm getting at when I say gently place your attention there.
It's inevitable that.
The mind boards the train of thought and takes you away,
Every now and then.
It's perfectly natural.
It's part of the process.
You don't need to do anything about it other than just simply get off the train.
You don't need to get angry at the train.
You don't need to get critical of yourself for boarding the train.
Just get off the train and come back to your focus area,
Whether it's breathing.
Or sound.
Recite.
Or maybe even all three.
It often takes a little bit of time to stabilize your attention,
So you don't need to rush into this.
I always love that metaphor of the snow globe.
You know,
You've shaken up the snow globe with your life and you've just put it down.
It takes a little bit of time to settle.
That's OK.
That's why I'm here.
I'm here to give you some time for your snow globe to settle.
So there's no need to rush or you might end up shaking the snow globe again.
And if you're finding some balance and stability of awareness and mindfulness with your focus area,
Keep it up.
If you find that your mind is racing a little bit.
It's perfectly okay,
Just notice that.
And maybe an ingredient you might stir into the pot here.
It's a little bit of positivity,
A little bit of love.
Sometimes we get caught up with trying to resist all the thoughts and resist the racing.
But maybe you can flip that on its head.
Maybe you can enjoy the racing,
Or maybe you can simply get really curious about whatever's in your focus area.
So as opposed to resisting distractions,
Getting really curious about what sound really sounds like,
Or really curious about what the breath really feels like.
Really curious about what the sites in front of you really look like.
Sometimes curiosity can be an antidote.
To the restlessness that we often find,
Especially if where you are,
It's the middle of the day.
Now continue with your practice exactly as you're currently doing it.
You're doing great.
I want you to draw special attention.
To the moment where any new experience arises.
So if you're working with sound,
Notice when a new sound enters your awareness.
See if you can keep track of.
Anything new.
That might be arising in your awareness.
So it might be something that's been there all along,
But you're noticing it for the first time.
Or it might be something that's actually,
You know,
Someone sparks up a lawnmower across the street or something.
And you notice that moment of birth where a new experience arises.
If you're working with the breath,
You might notice the beginning of each inhale,
The beginning of each exhale.
Noticing the beginning of each new breath.
Refining and focusing your attention on newness.
The moment of arising.
See if you can let those experiences of new sensations being born.
Anchor you in the present moment.
Putting yourself in a position of high receptivity.
Ready?
For any new experience to arise and noticing it as quickly as possible.
Soon as you become aware.
For example,
I just heard a bird chirp.
Not only paid attention to the bird chirp,
But the moment.
When the birds started chirping.
That's what we're kind of asymptotically aiming for,
Getting closer and closer.
To witnessing the birth of new experience.
As it happens.
If you're working with your visual field.
It might seem tricky,
Especially if no new experiences are coming,
But every movement you see is also something new.
You notice a new movement arise.
And that's true for sound,
And for the breath,
And for the body as well.
A new experience doesn't necessarily have to start from zero.
Hone in on a new change or a new growth or a new increase in value.
Again,
Bringing that warm,
Loving curiosity to this process.
There's something kind of mysterious about it that we are these.
Conscious beings in every single thing we experience.
Seems to have a kind of beginning.
And an end.
But in this practice,
We're focusing on the beginning.
Celebrating spring.
By noticing the springtime of experience.
The moment of arising.
Stay with it.
Few more moments here,
Just stay with it.
Okay,
Nice work.
Whenever you're ready,
Taking your time.
To transition out of the practice,
But to carry that quality of awareness forward.
As you move into whatever comes next.
And feel free to give your.
Body whatever it might need,
Whether that's a stretch or a sip of water or tea.
Okay,
Welcome back.
